Wow! What a great, hidden, place! Just steps away from the beach, clean, comfortable and great customer service! Spend a day at the beach and then come back to your room and BBQ dinner by the pool!. read more

Emergency reroute to this lodging after fudging reservations at the Best Western. Feels more like a quaint family condo than a hotel. We had a king size bed, full bath, living room space with a sofabed, and a kitchenette complete with fridge and stove. Complimentary continental breakfast with waffle bar. Only negatives were the very thin walls - we could hear every noise our neighbors made along with the car doors slamming of the guests pulling into the parking lot. Also, keep your room keys on you at all times - theyre needed to access the banquet area - and don't forget to lock the back patio doors. Keeping them open prevents the room key from opening the front door. read more

Have to keep in mind it's a Motel and not a Hotel when coming here. There are no bells and whistles. No room service or anything like that. We had a decent room with a comfortable King bed, kitchenette, and it was clean. The room was a bit outdated in some respects such as the bathroom, but still...it was clean for the most part. My husband did point out the few ants that were crawling around in the bathroom and the splattering of unknown what on the walls in there too. It's a Motel I have to remind. We were placed in a room off of the street away from the construction ,and had a view of the ocean if you went on the balcony. The walls are thin in this place. Not much insulation. Something to keep in mind as well. The continental breakfast was not the greatest and by all means should not be a selling point. The make it yourself waffles are the small variety, not your typical size waffle and honestly were not very good. The maker itself is old or something.They had some boiled eggs, toast and cereal. The cereal and toast are your best bet here. The location is great... read more

Nice. I would stay there again. Good for kids. Only drawback is that the walls are thinner so you may be woken up by your neighbor's TV. We got a web special from their web site so keep checking their home page to get a good rate. read more

I stayed at the Rio Sands for two months for work. It really is a charming places place literally about 100 feet away from the beach. It is very quiet. So if you are looking for a fun beach atmosphere go to Capitola or Santa Cruz. This is a quiet beach with a lovely restaurant, bar and deli near by. Safeway is a short drive away. read more

Excellent location. Super clean. Nice staff. Great pool and hot tub. Perfect price. Less than two minute walk to the beach, surrounded by lovely homes. I would return for sure! read more

Don't know about the hotel, but our booking thru hotelsone was only partially refunded , they said per sands that was the rules. We cancelled because of the power outage! So that was total BS. Had to book somewhere else. I want my $90. read more

We loved this little Inn! One block from the beach. We stayed in a very nice room. Not outdated, seemed new and updated so they must have remodeled based on previous yelp reviews. It was perfect. We stayed in a deluxe suite with a king bed and separate room for the queen. And it had a pull out couch in another little nook of the room. Very spacious. Refrigerator, microwave, coffee. Free water. Breakfast was a typical continental breakfast option. The only thing wrong was the paper thin walls. I heard nothing on the right side, but the left side had a room full of adult males that were super LOUD. We could hear the entirety of their conversations. We turned our tv on and were able to sleep but oh boy, if you need silence to sleep this may not be the place depending on who is next to you. We will stay here again but if we get party people late into the morning again, we may ask for a little help from the front desk. Putting that once piece aside, it was a great place to stay. A hidden gem. Thank you! read more

Nice place just a block from the beach. Clean rooms, a nice continental breakfast, great patio/pool area, and even BBQ pits.

I stayed at the Rio Sands for a month during a relocation to the area. The staff were very helpful and friendly during my stay. Plus great access to the beach and a heated pool. I highly recommend the Rio Sands whether on vacation or as an extended stay rental option. read more

Wonderfully designed rooms. We could close the door to the kids suite in the living room where they slept while we watched a movie and talked. Beautiful furnishings - very comfy beds and GOOD pillows. Very spacious suites and great rates. One block from the beach. The staff gave wonderful recommendations for Cafe Rio. This is such a sweet town away from the crowds of Santa Cruz and Monterey but close enough to make a great day trip to both town. The beach in Aptos is lovely. The grounds of Rio Sands are magnificent - lovely pool and hottub very warm and well maintained year round. Beautiful garden areas, BBQ and separate socializing area by the pool. The staff was wonderful and service is excellent. This is a gem of a hotel. We will definitely be back when we do our annual Santa Cruz-Monterey weekend in the off season. November is lovely on the Pacific Coast and Rio Sands takes enJOYment to elegance. read more

I really like the location of the Rio Sands Motel and the helpful polite staff they had. The room was cute too. PERFECT for a family of 4 if you have 1. In the family room there is a set of cute bunk beds then in the master is a very comfy king bed. Kitchen is surprisingly roomy too and has everything you need to cook a bomb meal. My only complaints are their WIFI servers don't work good at all. You have to call the staff to have them reset if they fail to connect. Luckily I wasn't home enough to get to this point to go out of my way to get access. The other complaint I have is the breakfast. Pretty damn bad unfortunately. Maybe because I got there late or what not but all they really had to offer was cereal, cinnabons, toast and pancakes. Not even some juice?! Common guys! Still a solid 4 star though. read more

Great place. For a motel, its really a wonderful place and the location is superb! Enjoyed walking to the beach and that it was such a small, quaint little town. The Motel is newly renovated and very clean. I would definitely go back. read more

Stayed here Nov 4th, much older and you can see the wear & tear but very clean & beds were very comfy. Walking distance to a great eatery which I'll review separately and to the Rio Del Mar Beach & State Park. Was a little worry at first after reading other reviews about the noise, still wanted to go last minute because the price was right for an off season week night. Turned out it was very quiet and parking lot was full! Did not hear any door slamming or people walking around. The landscaping was beautiful and very well maintained, loved the use of the hot tub. Breakfast was your normal continental style spread but good on variety and in a very nice room w/a fireplace. Plan on going back in the future! read more

First let me say that this hotel is one of my favorite to stay in the Santa Cruz area. The last time I stayed there I was with a large group for work and everyone has had the same things to say about it. The staff is extremely friendly as well as helpful. The rooms were a lot like other hotels near the beach that I've stayed at and has all the things I love and look for in a beach side hotel, a nice patio area with a grill that gets a lot of sun by the pool, comfortable furniture, two big flat screen tvs, but most importantly almost every time I have stayed here I have gotten a room with a kitchenette complete with pots, pans, plates, silver ware and even a few tupperware! Ya know it's just so nice to have the option to make a home cooked meal :) If you notice I did give the location a 4 and only because it is not directly on the beach which is the only time I give 5s however this place might as well be on the beach because it is literally right across from it :) Over all I give this place 5 stars, I really do enjoy my self when I come here and I feel it is genuinely a great choice :) read more

The family suite fit our needs perfectly. Three kids and I shared the bunk room with sofa sleeper and my parents had the king bedroom. The sofa sleeper didn't have the typical dagger-like springs, it was sort of like memory foam and quite comfy. My parents raved about their bed and the kids loved the bunk. Way cheaper than reserving two standard rooms at a hotel and you couldn't ask for a better location - "100 steps to the beach" (my nephew counted them). Great pool and hot tub. Breakfast was full of carbs but the room in which it was served was lovely. The poor woman working to keep things stocked really did her best. Kids enjoyed it. The furniture in the rooms and grounds seem recently updated and were nice. The bathrooms and doors should be next on the list. We didn't really use the kitchen due to our two night short stay but appreciated the refrigerator. Looking forward to our next visit! Loved the beach in Aptos. It was so convenient we just hung out there rather than traveling to other places. read more

We stayedin Aptos for a sports tournament. This place was perfect for our needs. Room was clean & had everything we needed. Comfortable bed. Uodated shower.And it is just 2 blocks from the beach! read more

Most comfortable bed I've ever had at a motel. Room was standard small room with little alcove and love seat. Slider opened to a picnic/BBQ . Pool area doesn't open til 10am, and not a minute before. Boo. But they had a nice hot jacuzzi pool. Super friendly staff, surprisingly affordable (off season and midweek, anyway), short walk to beach. Fully renovated, decent breakfast options. Would definitely stay here again. read more

The manager Dan is wonderful! Thank you Dan for all your help over this crazy holiday weekend :)

Not a bad Motel, really close to the beach, Bed was comfortable and the shower had good water pressure. It is older but clean and there was a kitchenette with a fridge and microwave. We stayed in a room that sleeps 3 but I wouldn't recommend actually having 3 people because the fold out bed was "Awful" . We didn't sleep in it but we pulled it out to see what it was like. Definitely nothing you would sleep on. Also if you like to lay in bed and watch T.V. you wouldn't like this room, because the T.V is in the other room where the couch is. read more

We been coming here for years. A great place to take the family. But I think it's time to find a new place. These issues need to be addressed before we come back. 1. Later pool and spa hours. 9pm is too early. 2. Get better wifi. 3. New beds in All the units. Not just some. read more

I am very saddened to be writing this review, as I normally come to Yelp to write 5 star reviews. As a Californian who hardly has ever experienced racial profiling or discrimination in my life, I was shocked to have experience it directed a CHILD. At the time of check out, 10 AM Monday the 22nd, I witnessed another resident at the same hotel comment on lost privacy keys, one of the desk attendants, SHELBY, said she had lost her scarf, I'm assuming, and he commented that maybe the people who took his privacy cards were the same people who stole her scarf. Then he continued to say it was the 7 maybe 8 year old who was having his birthday party a few rooms down from our room. Mind you, he was a little black boy, very precious and YOUNG. VERY young. The hotel resident then continued to tell SHELBY (the desk attendant) to check the cameras and to roll them back, and if it was the little boy, he would have a public lynching in the courtyard. Then the two desk attendants, SHELBY and BRENDA continued to laugh. I am completely shocked that I had to witness this. Instead of telling the man how completely inappropriate that comment was, they LAUGHED along with him. I will never visit this hotel ever again. I am disgusted if this is what this company represents. read more

This quiet little beach motel is close to the beach and has a nice little pool and BBQ yard. The rooms feature tempurpedic beds and are small but tidy and have everything you need for a nice weekend at the beach. After all how much time do you want to spend in the room when you are going to the beach for the weekend? It is close to HWY 1 and a short drive to Santa Cruz and Capitola. We enjoyed the place very much and will be back! read more

ALL BAD. Made reservations three weeks in advance. With no notification, I arrived to find MAJOR construction going on across the small, narrow street....cranes, jack hammers, the aroma of diesel fuel, nowhere to park as construction crews had everything blocked. This was supposed to be my birthday getaway for a period of rest, relaxation, peace and quiet. Obviously that never happened. Oh, it gets better. I anted to speak to the general manager to voice my disgust, only to find out she conveniently took vacation while this was going on. Even she got away from it. I find their lack of notification to be nothing short of extreme greed and inconsideration. How dare you, Rio Sands. read more

Terrible experience, I've never posted anything negative in my life. I grew up in Aptos and know a lot of folks. I was displaced for a few days after a move, and stayed over a couple of days. I have always been nice and accepting of the Rio sands patrons, as they help support our local economy. I was treated horribly by the management. I was falsely accused of being loud, even though I know I was sleeping at the time. Wow, whatever. Word of mouth go's along at in this town. I was glad I found out and will not recommend this establishment to anyone. read more

This place is Great! It is all about location, location, location. In a friendly neighborhood right next to the beach at a great price. Centrally located to Capitola, with many local amenities close by, like golfing at Seascape just up the road., hiking in Nsisean Marks Park just 1 mile away for the whole family, wonderful restaurants close by. You just can't beat it! read more

This was a horrible experience! When I first arrived I opened the sliding door and there were a bunch of people chainsmoking underneath my 'smoke free' room. The room immediately filled with smoke. There were barking dogs in the neighborhood that didn't quiet down. The road outside my room was extremely loud. The carpets turned my feet black. The room was spacious but old, dingy and not very clean. They have remodeled rooms but I was't placed in one even though I made my reservation months ago. They didn't have space to change my room. They didn't want to refund my room if I checked out even though I had only been checked in for about 20 minutes. They had to get special permission to not charge me for the first nights stay even though I left. The parking was horrible. I would not advise staying at this hotel for any reason. read more

The rooms don't have air-conditioning and there's only 2 employees that were wonderful besides the cleaning service, they're wonderful

Just finished a 3 night stay at the rio sands. There positives and negatives with this hotel. Let's start with the positive. 1.The proximity to the beach. It is a short 250 steps from the beach. 2. The pool and spa area is clean and the kids loved it. Spa is big and fits lots of people. Pool is heated. 3. The BBQ area is nice and modern. Lots of sitting room with new furniture. 4. We stayed in room 113 and the king bed was very comfortable and kids loved the bunk beds. We didn't use our pull out couch but it seemed ok, just old. Negatives 1. Room size. The rooms are VERY small. The pics on the internet make it seem much larger than it is. Make sure you look at the square footage when booking. 2. Kitchen The kitchen is extremely small. Appliances are old. There is room for only one person to stand in kitchen at a time. There is no dining area. There is a 2 person table for a room that is supposed to sleep 6. Luckily the BBQ area had enough seating 3. The hotel could really use some updating the floors are old and popcorn ceilings 4. Probably my biggest pet peeve is that there is one small 3 drawer dresser in the family suite. There is no other space to unpack your things unless u use the night stands (which we did) and a small closet. 5. Noise: We were on the bottom floor and about 5 am every morning the people above us we so noisy. They weren't trying to be disrespectful, but you hear everything! If you want quiet I would recommend a 2nd floor room. 6. Breakfast. The free continental breakfast is weak. They don't even provide cream for coffee unless you want powdered. There is nothing fresh. It's all Costco pre packaged food. There options are very slim. Waffles are ok.. 7. The staff raised the rate on our room $200 and we had to have that taken care of as well. Good thing we had our original email. 8. Maid service. We didn't see maid service our entire stay.., we requested more towels, but our room was never cleaned. Overall it was bearable, but I probably wouldn't stay here again unless there was some serious re-modeling or maybe for 1 night. read more

I wanted to thank the staff at the Rio Sands Hotel. Every time I stay at the hotel, rooms are immaculately clean and the front desk staff always kind. I also enjoy your free continental breakfast! read more

This hotel is almost everything we want from a small getaway hotel. First, as others have noted here, the beds are fantastic. They use genuine memory foam mattresses and they are *so* comfortable. Second, you have a choice between a King room and two queens. Third, all the rooms are more or less the same. Fourth, what a great location, a two-minute walk from Aptos Beach, which is just lovely. Fifth, the wi-fi is plenty sufficient and free. You get free HBO (though the TVs are quaint CRTs). Sixth, the continental breakfast is basically continental-Plus, because you can make your own waffles and they're great. Seventh: they have a heated pool and jacuzzi, open year-round, and their back-area grounds are well-maintained and actually quite nice. I felt for what I paid it was a bargain. If you want a nicer bathroom, you will need to bring a space heater in the winter. This is a great place if you want to spend a few days at the beach, and this is probably the best and most peaceful place of its kind near the South Bay. read more

Great hotel for the price - very clean, comfortable bed, quiet and close to the beach. Breakfast was more than expected. Will stay here again read more

Renovations tastefully done. This quaint little beach town has everything you need for the perfect getaway. The rooms are spacious and accommodations are more than adequate. We stayed in the Family Suite (king in one room, bunk beds and sofa bed in the other) our back door opened up to a large patio w/table & chairs, and we were right in front of the pool/Jacuzzi/vending area. We brought food and BBQ's at the very large and neatly kept BBQ area. The continental breakfast was nice too. Pastries, breads, self-made Belgian waffles, hard boiled eggs, cereal, juice, coffee etc. In a lovely room with a fireplace. The staff were extremely courteous and let us stay parked after we checked out and went to the beach for the day, even let us come and clean up by the pool area along with towels so we could drive home without the extra sand. :) Definitely a place I will go to on a regular basis. The perfect getaway. Wi-fi if you absolutely need to work too. Relaxed. Kids had a great time too! read more

We've stayed at this hotel more than a few times and we love it here, The Temperpedic beds rule, It's quiet unless you get a room next to a bunch of screaming kids running up and down the halls in the main building in the morning... Booooooo !!! So, if you do want quiet get a beachside room with a balcony there's only I believe, 4-5 rooms on that side of the Hotel, The're located in it's own building structure on the North side & downstairs from these rooms is were they serve the complimentary breakfast in the morning, which is very convenient especially if you just want to roll out of bed (If you're not Naked) & walk down the stairs and grab yourself some coffee or juice in the morning, they offer a variety of breakfast food from waffles, cereal, bagels,toast, fruit , pastry's .. etc. - We've showed up early before check-in time and Britney the front desk agent was kind enough to let us know that we could kick it by the pool, give us a parking pass and call us when the room was ready, that they would put a rush on the room, we were very thankful since my boyfriend works graveyard and he's on a weird sleeping schedule. Rooms are clean and beds are comfortable, prices are reasonable and the location is great , a block from the beach with fire pits , bring your own wood & an awesome restaurant Cafe' Rio. If you travel down the beach a little ways you can have a quiet beach with virtually no one around to relax. read more

I have lived in Aptos for 15 years and friends and family have stayed at the Rio Sands on many occasions and were pleased with the accommodations. Two friends came to town last weekend and I recommended the Rio Sands. They booked a room with two queen beds, a kitchenette, and a pullout couch. They received an old outdated room with one bed and no pull out couch. We came back to the room late evening and realized the couch was not a pull-out and I had to sleep on the small couch with my jacket as a blanket because there was no extra bedding in the room. The room smelled of gas so we had to leave the sliding glass door open so we wouldn't die from inhaling gas fumes from the faulty stove in the kitchenette. The only heater was a 1950's wall heater that was only on the wall in the living room, you would have had to heat the living room to 100 degrees to get any of the heat in the bedroom. The bedroom was drafty and my friends who had to share the bed were cold all night. The room was in an area of the hotel that hadn't been renovated but they charge the same amount for the old rooms as they do for the renovated rooms and they don't give you options. The photos of the rooms on the website are the newly renovated rooms. The rooms aren't cheap but the room my friend got was about the same level as a Motel 6 and I am not exaggerating. My friend went to the front desk to complain and they were told they could have a different room. They packed their stuff by 11:00 am, put it in their car and had to wait until 3:30 pm for another room which wasn't any better than the first room, they weren't offered a discount and they didn't have another option since most hotels require a two-night stay on the weekend. The situation was embarrassing since I had recommended the Rio Sands to my friends. They were in town for a week and stayed at other hotels and by far the two nights at the Rio Sands were the only complaint they had about their trip. I wont recommend the Rio Sands to any of my friends or relatives again. read more

I searched for pet friendly lodging and this property came up but it says no pets please! What's up with that, Yelp?

Do not go by the photo in the AAA directory! This motel has 2 streets with homes on them between the motel and the beach with nary a view of the beach in sight which was a huge disappointment. Our room had been renovated, and was clean and comfortable. The front office staff was very nice, and they did give us a refund for the second night so that we could find a lovely place right on the ocean on another town. I might add that I wasn't the only guest that could not connect to WiFi. read more

The hotel was nicely remodeled, clean, & friendly service. Loved our room with its sliding glass door to the patio/pool area (pool was a perfect temperature as well). Thanks for providing a great stay on our vacation to Santa Cruz read more

NICE STAFF??? Not so much. If I could give NEGATIVE stars I would. I am rating this based on a sole PHONE CONVERSATION with front desk staff and Manager-Raquel. I never even had the opportunity to walk into my room, because my reservation was cancelled. Someone ran their car into 'MY' hotel room and the replacement options were hugely inconvenient. In the beginning I was trying to figure a solution that would work for my family. I started my conversation with their meager at best front staff person who gave me 'maybe' and 'I think so" and 'I'm pretty sure" as answers. I was told that instead of the sleeper-couch that I reserved for my two children to sleep on, I would receive ONE rollaway bed and "some cushions for the floor". I gasped! FLOOR CUSHIONS? The second part of my inconvenience was that I had to check out the next day "no later than 11am" to move to another room that wouldn't be available until 3pm. I could have worked with the sleeping accommodations, but felt the move was too much to ask, so I asked for the manager. I was told she only works Mon-Fri and that there was no weekend manager on staff. I had to insist that the manager be reached and received a return phone call several hours later. Right from the start Raquel was absolutely rude and insensitive and had no intention of making things 'right despite the situation being THEIR issue. I had made the reservation months in advance but was treated like I was trying to book that same day as my check-in. There was no customer service, no accommodation, no give-and-take AT ALL. I was instructed to take what they had or go elsewhere. A price reduction was given ONLY when I asked and was considered a HUGE favor. When the conversation continued to decline, I asked to come in so that we could talk on a more personal basis to work things out. I felt that a personal conversation would be more productive and ensure that I was still serious about staying. She then stated that she was... --insert Jeff Spicoli accent-- "absolutely noooot" ....on the property. Neither she nor a weekend manager was available though it was high summer season, a fully booked hotel, and a weekend with a major event in Santa Cruz!?!??! The conversation continued with her talking AT me and refusing to answer my questions, telling me she had explained things four times over and beating a dead horse though I still had questions about what my arrangements were. Eventually I was told that my reservation was cancelled, I was not welcome at the hotel, and hung up on. Not the accommodation OR nice staff that I was expecting based on the other yelp reviews. I'll be speaking with the GM ASAP to express my disappointment in the service, simply in hopes to better the experience of other visitors. I won't be making plans to visit in the future and caution you to make other plans as well. read more

My family of four stayed here for 3 days during the week. The location was great; just 1 block from the beach and 1 mile from a Safeway. Most motels in this area are very old and run down. Riosands is also old but it's clean and comfortable. They remodeled their front office. I am only giving them 3 stars because their wifi did not work in the room despite the front desk constantly restarting the router. Also, we did not care for their breakfast (more details below) and the noise level from some loud guests close by penetrated the walls easily making it difficult to get a good night's sleep. ROOM: We stayed in a family suite on the 1st floor. We loved the separate rooms where the kids had a bunk bed and their own TV and my husband and I had our room with our own TV. The vinyl sofabed was great to lounge in. I only wished that the front room's window had sheer curtains (as did the back room) for more privacy when people walked by. It became a choice between getting enough lighting vs. privacy. The back room exited into the patio where we could also walk to the pool. KITCHEN: It's small but well equipped for making simple meals. There's a large refrigerator/freezer and a free standing stove/oven. No garbage disposal. The light on top of the stove had a weak fan. The kitchen was situated in our room with the king sized bed. A 30" round dining table was squeezed in between the bed and the kitchen along with 2 chais. It really could not fit 4 people unless you moved the table into the walkway between the bedroom and the kitchen. There's also a patio outside with a table and chairs for eating. The dining area is dark as there are only 2 lights in the room on the opposite wall on both sides of the bed. BATHROOM: It was small (about 5 x 7). There was no shelf space to put your toiletries on, other than the toilet lid. Ventilation was poor where the small window could not vent the shower steam properly due to the tightly fitted curtain. As a result, the lighting fixture and mirror were rusty. BREAKFAST: By our 3rd morning, my kids were dreading the breakfast. It mainly consisted of starchy carbs (Belgium waffles, bread for toast and coffee cake/pastry), cereal (only Cheerios and oats), fruit cocktail (from a can - yuck), banana halves, orange slices, hard boiled eggs (the only protein), milk (slim or whole), coffee and orange juice. I would have appreciated some different fresh fruit, yogurt and sausage/bacon. The dining room only had 2 large dining tables, otherwise, the rest of the tables were for 2 people. There's only one person manning the dining room. I would consider staying here again, but I would check around for a place that had quieter rooms and working wifi in the rooms. A healthier breakfast would be nice too. read more